Middle Eastern operator Etisalat has extended a long-standing partnership with M2M gateways provider Netcomm Wireless in another sign of its growing interest in the M2M opportunity.

The operator said the deal will build on an existing agreement to provide M2M services to vertical market customers across the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

As a result of the new agreement, Netcomm’s (Sydney, Australia) product portfolio will be extended to Etisalat’s (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) operations in 15 countries.

The companies say the tie-up will provide widespread access to M2M solutions designed to increase efficiency in areas such as smart metering, telehealth, digital signage, transportation and security.

“This contract takes our partnership with Etisalat to a new level, and reflects our shared commitment to accelerating M2M deployments throughout the region,” said David Stewart, managing director and chief executive of Netcomm.

News of the deal comes just a month after Etisalat launched an M2M control center designed to help enterprise customers activate, manage and rapidly scale up connected-device businesses and deployments.

Earlier this year, the operator also became the eighth operator member of the M2M World Alliance – one of the main operator groups set up to promote M2M technology for global deployment.

Etisalat now claims to be offering a number of M2M solutions across its geographical markets, including several fleet-management solutions, an energy-management service in the United Arab Emirates and a healthcare solution in Saudi Arabia.

“We are committed to M2M and this agreement with NetComm Wireless will help us extend our capabilities in the area of M2M Gateways which is an important component in most M2M solutions,” said Khalifa Al Shamsi, chief digital services officer of Etisalat Group.

Netcomm says its products are built to withstand harsh environmental conditions and extreme temperatures and do not require fixed-line infrastructure, making them highly suited to a number of the markets in which Etisalat operates.